Financialization, globalization and the making of profits by leading retailers

Cédric Durand and Céline Baud ()

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Abstract: From the beginning of the 1990s up until 2007, leading retailers experienced a slowdown of their growth in domestic markets and yet generated an opposite upward trend in return on equity (ROE). This apparent paradox is examined through an analysis of the 10 main retailers' accounts. Focusing on the links between financialization and globalization processes, this article examines a variety of complementary ways of making profits implemented within the industry to satisfy impatient shareholders: foreign expansion, financialization of assets, deterioration of suppliers' and workers' positions and the use of working capital management to transform market power into financial gains.

Keywords: financialization; globalization; retail industry; accounting; power; distribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (61)

Published in Socio-Economic Review, 2012, 10 (2), pp.241:266. ⟨10.1093/ser/mwr016⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00737045

DOI: 10.1093/ser/mwr016

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